Nugent was a notable absentee from last weekend's New South Wales championships, the key lead-up meet to the national titles starting in Adelaide next month.

Speculation about Nugent's future also follows the Australian Sports Commission's (ASC) directive to swimming and several other Olympic sports to adhere to mandatory reforms or have their funding cut by as much as 20 per cent.

The ASC says it is demanding higher standards and greater accountability and its reforms focus on three areas of governance - the structural model, composition of the boards and financial transparency.

Meanwhile, Hockey Australia (HA) released a statement saying it understood its chief executive, Mark Anderson, was the preferred candidate for the chief executive role at SA.

HA says Anderson is still finalising details of his contract.

"Hockey Australia had planned to make this announcement jointly with Swimming Australia next week," the statement said.

"Hockey Australia is disappointed that this news has leaked prior to the engagement being finalised, but wishes Mark the very best of success in his new role."